Macy's to hire 4,000 full time employees in 2012

By IBT Staff Reporter02/17/12 AT 1:48 PM

Macy's Inc Chief Executive Terry Lundgren on Friday told a group of aspiring fashion industry executives that the department store chain plans to hire about 4,000 full-time employees this year, roughly the same number as last year.

Speaking to a group of students in the offices of its Manhattan flagship store, Lundgren said Macy's needs more buyers for its fast-growing online business and more store managers, among other positions it wants to fill.

These are high-paying jobs, Lundgren said in a speech to kick off an initiative between the City of New York and Parsons The New School for Design aimed at recruiting new talent in the fashion industry.

Macy's has about 170,000 full-time employees companywide and operates 850 stores, including some 40 Bloomingdale's stores.

When asked about international expansion, Lundgren said annual sales at the Bloomingdale's store in Dubai - opened two years ago and operated by a local partner - were back on track after disappointing sales in the first year.

He told the students it would take time to expand internationally beyond the Dubai store, but it was something he spends half a day per week working on.

It's a natural for a Macy's or a Bloomingdale's, Lundgren said of those chains' potential appeal abroad. It's a matter of when and where.

He said online sales rose 39.6 percent last fiscal year and should top $2 billion this year. Macy's will report full-year results on Tuesday.